


red strings

by starrydistricts



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, One Shot, jisung isnt here bc his story has to do with chenle's!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 14:37:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14239425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrydistricts/pseuds/starrydistricts
Summary: another story where a boy is in love with his bestfriend, the bestfriend with their tutor, the tutor with the boy.





	red strings

if names could define words, jeno and jaemin would've defined bestfriends together. 

together. they're always together. they've been neighbors their entire lives, spent each day off camping at each other's houses, walk home together daily, been in the same schools, the same athletic teams — they're more attached at the hip than two twins would be. each sentence jaemin left unfinished, jeno would complete; each sandwich jeno began, jaemin would finish; each time they needed someone, the other was the first person they'd go to.

they spent primary school isolated in one corner, competing over who had the cooler lunchbox or over who had stronger pokemon cards. they spent secondary school arm in arm, making fun of their teachers and arguing over who got to use their shared locker that day. every partner, playmate, tutor, they ever had was one another. and they didn't need anyone else. there were no gaps left for other people to fill.

or at least jeno had thought such. 

the summer they were preparing for highschool, jaemin's mom had finally told him what the letters on his arm meant. and jaemin, like always, told jeno as soon as he found out. " _R J. my soulmate's first name has to do something with the letters R and J, jeno! mom said when i kiss them, the R will be colored in!"_

_"what's a soulmate?"_

 

highschool came with changes. too many for jeno to keep count of. the most important being how every student had different schedules, meaning that he couldn't see jaemin as much as he used to anymore — that they had to find other people to keep them company. 

 

jeno sees jaemin holding hands with a girl a year older than them during the middle of freshmen year and he realizes he doesn't like the idea of hanging out with other people —  of jaemin hanging out with other people.

 

sophmore year is a little better. they share chemistry and lunch together, and in those periods, it's like nothing's changed. it's just the two of them again. 

they join the basketball team that year. jaemin's quick to fit in, making friends with the older and younger players. jeno, not so much, but he does enjoy the company of a blonde freshman by the name of chenle.

 

junior year goes by slower. jeno only saw jaemin one period each week, when he — thanks to gym class only taking place three days of the week — has a free period that aligns with jaemin's.

jeno and jaemin make the basketball team again but jaemin often spends more time practicing with an upperclassman named mark than jeno. jeno doesn't know what it is, but he doesn't really like mark until the canadian boy helps him perfect his shots during the last month of playing season.

 

and now they're in senior year. five months in, to be more exact. jeno finds himself losing interest in classes since he's already sent early admission letters to the colleges of his dreams. (which, with no surprise, are almost identical to jaemin's.)

he's currently losing himself in his thoughts as the final few seconds of ap statistics tick away, eraser of his pencil tapping lightly against the surface of his desk. jaemin had texted him yesterday saying that he'd skip practice today and jeno — suddenly losing interest to go to practice himself — was ready to leave the clutches of this class so that he could meet jaemin at the latter's locker. 

the bell rings and jeno's the first one out the door. he's recently dyed his hair a blinding silver because jaemin said it fit him when he'd sprayed the shade onto his ebony locks during the halloween of this year. it gets good commentary, as he expected, since jaemin's always had an eye for what made people look good.

when he reaches the hallway in which jaemin's locker is located, he sees the boy there, eyebrows threading together to form a frown. "you good?" he asks, approaching the slouching male with worry evident in both his expression and tone. 

"coach says i won't be able to play anymore if i don't maintain a B in calculus."

jeno feels a frown surface onto his own visage. jaemin's never been good in mathematics. last year, he'd only passed precalcus because jeno had threatened to stop letting jaemin borrow his debit card to purchase dumb things online — like an arceus doll made out of playdough — if he didn't study.

he can no longer do that, however, because jaemin's got his own debit card now. his parents had given him one for getting a 4 on his ap test for euro. 

"i can help you if you want," jeno offers. it's no problem, really. he went over to jaemin's house almost daily, anyways. now they'd have something to do instead of asking each other on what game they should play for three hours straight.

jaemin sighs at that, eyes flickering at the clock resting on the wall opposite to them. "nah, couch told ms. berkley and now she's assigning some nerd to me. i don't even know their name but i have to see them like now — or well, five minutes ago."

jeno won't lie, he's a bit disappointed at that. he's also amused though, because jaemin's late and hasn't bothered to make his way to where he's supposed to meet the tutor yet.

"well, you should go. you want me to walk with you?"

"please?"

and so they walk; side by side, silently because there's nothing to say. jeno doesn't mind. he steals a glance at his bestfriend every now and then, noticing how reluctant the boy seemed by how he walked a tempo slower than how he usually did, trailing his hand along the wall. 

jeno feels like they reach the third floor quicker than usual, despite their slow pace, and signals jaemin to go on ahead inside. "i'll go ask mr. leon about a few questions i have on my english essay. i'll meet you back here and we can walk back together?" 

jaemin nods, whispering a ' _wish me luck_ ' before he swings the door open.

a brunette's sitting there, eyes trained on the textbook he has open on the table in front of him. his lashes are long and jeno thinks he's beautiful, angelic, even. 

jaemin seems to think so too, the way his feet get stuck to the floor as soon as he sees his supposed tutor.

a few seconds pass just like that until the unnamed boy lifts his gaze from the paper to jaemin, a small smile gracing his delicate facial features. "are you jaemin?" jaemin doesn't reply so jeno does it for him. "yeah, he is."

jeno delivers a light shove to jaemin's back, earning a haste ' _thank you_ ' from the shaken male. "what he said. uh — and you are? sorry, ms. berkley didn't tell me since she was undecided on who it would be the last time she talked to me."

"renjun. huang renjun."

jeno repeats the name in his head, just in case he needs it for purposes in the future.

"sorry, did you just say renjun?" asks jaemin, as if he's deaf. 

"uh, yes, i did. i'm a foreigner! that's why it sounds a little... different," and then renjun lets out a giggle that makes jeno want to laugh too.

jaemin turns his head to face jeno with a new, wide grin plastered on his face.  _'R J',_ jaemin mouths in excitement and then he's heading over to sit down beside renjun.

it clicks in jeno's head, but it's slower than his heart sinking to his stomach. jaemin thinks he's found his soulmate.

he observes the pair for a minute more and realizes that renjun is jaemin's type. 

he also realizes that being in love with someone you  _know_ isn't your soulmate is an idiotic thing.

 

three weeks pass with the same routine. jeno meets jaemin at his locker, drops him off at the third floor, loiters the second floor halls, picks jaemin up, and then heads to practice with him. each day, jaemin's smile gets brighter and brighter.

today is different though. when he picks jaemin up, the joy radiating off of him has jeno forgetting his own bitter reality for a moment.

the bitterness returns as soon as jaemin parts his lips, the widest grin stretching across them as he speaks. "jeno, it's him. i know it's him."

it feels like the initials located on jeno's own arm burn as jaemin continues, "i'm in love with him. i know it hasn't even been a month but god — he makes me so happy. i don't think i've ever been truly happy before him."

jeno only nods in response. the fist around his throat gets tighter, preventing him from speaking and causing his breaths to get shorter, quicker, stuttered. 

"i want you to meet him."

they stop walking. jeno stops first. 

"please, jeno. you're my bestfriend, i trust your opinion more than anyone else's. more than my own."

jeno wants to say no but he can't. jaemin looks desperate, as if he's so close to getting something he's searched his whole life for and jeno holds the last clue to finding it.

"okay."

 

the next day, jeno heads to the third floor by himself. jaemin tells him, in the morning, that he'll have an exam in his last period class and jeno knows that jaemin likes to work on his test until the late bell rings, signalling the 'official' end. 

when he turns the corner to find the classroom jaemin and renjun usually study in, he sees the back of two basketball team members, names signed on their jerseys. they're crowded over something and sneering.

a pitiful plea rings through the third floor and jeno realizes that the 'something' is actually a person. curious, he takes a closer look. usually he steers away from things like this, violence not being his favorite cup of tea unless it was in csgo where he'd wreck jaemin's pride by headshotting him more times than he can count, but the voice had seemed eerily familiar.

he spots a neatly sorted arrangement of hazel locks from in between the arms of the players and puts a name to the victim so quickly, he surprises himself. not able to bare the fright visible in renjun's visage, the boy's lower lip quivering as he raised his arms defensively, jeno speaks up.

"hey, that's enough. that's my friend and he's tutoring jaemin so that jaemin can continue playing for the season. you don't want to lose jaemin, do you? and if my bestfriend's out, so am i," so maybe being co-captain and bestfriends with the captain had its perks. 

grumbling, as if they weren't seniors themselves, the two towering males depart from the scene, leaving jeno to tend to a trembling renjun. 

"hey, it's okay. you're okay," his palm rests on renjun's shoulder hesitantly. when the foreign student moves his stare from his shoelaces to jeno's features, jeno attempts at a reassuring smile. it seems to work because renjun slowly smiles back at him.

they sit in silence for a few seconds, renjun steadying his breathing and jeno offering his shoulder for the male to rest his head upon, until jaemin sees them and rushes over, apologizing for being late.

"it's okay. nothing much happened," renjun claims, standing up with ease. he turns around and offers jeno his hand to lift him up, which jeno gladly accepts, and then leads the way into the classroom by himself once jeno's stable.

jaemin nudges jeno, asking if he missed anything, to which jeno just shrugs. 

 

 

 

having been in korea for as long as he can remember, renjun is practically fluent in the vernacular. he knows everything from historical terms to teenage slang, saying the hardest words with the utmost confidence in his pronunciation.

yet recently he faces moments where he can't translate his thoughts into words. or at least korean words. he speaks about his problems to his bestfriend, a student just like him harboring the name 'chenle', with ease. yet when he talks to his closest friend from korea, one that he'd met in primary school, he can't say anything. it's like a switch turns off in his brain and he's just sitting there, stuttering as he scrambles for his thoughts. donghyuck tells him to take it easy in return, hearing the story from chenle instead.

sure, he's had times like this in the past, but it's been more frequent since the last week of january. the week that had gone by so smoothly until the thursday, where he'd been shoved down by two classmates in his journalism class that were double his size.

he'd forgotten to do their homework that day and when they were given a '0' for their assignment, they had come to find him. before renjun could experience any real pain, however, he'd been spared by the words of another student their age. 

and from then, he's found it hard to breathe every time he sees the silver-haired basketball player walk down the hallway. 

renjun knows it's silly. jeno's only ever sat down and talked to him once, and that was when jaemin, the boy he was tutoring, had practically begged for jeno to join their session — or at least that's what jeno had claimed. that had also been the day jeno had saved him from a month's worth of bruising blemishes and put an end to the pestering of the two boys that had previously demanded he do their homework.

it doesn't stop him from developing a gigantic crush on the male though. it grows so large that these past few days, he's been running down from his last period class to meet jaemin at his locker just to walk with jeno (and jaemin) to the classroom jeno leaves them at. they never say anything to each other besides a 'hi' but that's more than enough to have renjun's heart fluttering and the apples of his cheeks turning a soft shade of pink.

renjun's afraid jeno will find out by how obvious his body reacts when he's flustered, but the boy seems dense, much to his luck, and they continue this routine with no problems.

 

"renjun?" the call for his name reels renjun back to reality from his thoughts which were full of jeno, who had offered him his a napkin when they were waking upstairs today since renjun had caught a small cold and was being bothered by sniffles. "ah — sorry, jaemin. what was that?"

jaemin shakes his head and offers a smile that says  _'don't worry about it'_. "i asked if you were busy this wednesday. after school?" 

this wednesday. pulling out his mobile from the back pocket of his jeans, he opens up his calendar to check if he has anything planned.

"no, actually. why do you ask?" locking his phone, he places it beside the textbook on the table, raising an eyebrow in curiousity.

jaemin looks elated upon hearing his response, but it lasts for a second before he seems a little timid again. it's unsettling since jaemin's usually the loud one between the two of them.

"i was wondering if you'd like to hang out? like," and then there's a long pause, "a date?" 

 _'oh,'_ renjun thinks, unsure how to reply. jaemin looked at him like there were stars illuminating his obsidian pools, smile small as if ready to drop if renjun rejected him; and when renjun takes a minute too long to respond, jaemin's thumbs fiddle with one another like they tend to do when he's unsure about something.

renjun feels his stomach turn, the guilt eating away at him so adamantly that instead of saying no, he says yes.

the sigh of relief that leaves jaemin has him exhaling one as well.

"no way! i  _have_ to tell jeno," and then renjun freezes. jeno. what would jeno think? would he be happy for them? 

would he — would he possibly be sad?

renjun decides it isn't that bad of an idea. if jeno's happy for them, renjun can put an end to their story that had never even started and start one anew with someone else — possibly with jaemin. 

if jeno's sad, maybe all hope  _isn't_ lost. 

 

wednesday comes quickly. renjun hasn't received a verbal congratulatory nor petty message from jeno. jaemin had told him that jeno said they should have fun, but that doesn't answer any of renjun's questions.  _how_ had jeno said it? had he said it with a grin as wide as the one on jaemin's face as they walked to the restaurant a couple blocks away from the school? or had he said it with droopy eyes and a forced smile like renjun would've if he were watching jeno go off with someone else.

"are you okay?" jaemin's concern-laced inquiry pulls his attention away from the feelings overwhelming him.

 _'no,'_ renjun wants to reply.  _'no, and it's all because of your bestfriend.'_

"i'm fine," he says instead, small smile gracing his tiers as he looks at jaemin briefly and then back at the ground ahead of them.

"we don't have to do this if you don't want to, you know," jaemin continues, coming to a momentary stop, and renjun bathes in the adoration he's receiving, having been deprived it from who he wanted it most from.

boldly, renjun slips his palm into jaemin's bigger one, walking ahead and dragging the taller male along with him. "i want to."

 

"i've always wanted to do this," jaemin confesses as he holds the door open for renjun when they arrive at their destination.

"hold the door open for someone?" renjun asks him, amused. 

jaemin feigns hurt, palm pressed to his chest dramatically. "i'm actually quite the gentleman, excuse you."

they walk towards the worker waiting to seat them and jaemin tells renjun, "do  _this_ ," before he gets the girl's attention, "table for two please."

and then quietly, "i'm on a  _date_ ," as if renjun couldn't hear him. renjun finds himself shaking his head in disbelief and chuckling under his breath.

"a dork."

"hey!"

 

renjun orders an american-styled cheeseburger with a side of seasoned fries and celery sticks while jaemin orders a chicken alfredo spaghetti pasta.

"i don't even like pasta," jaemin admits as they wait for their food, drumming the pads of his fingers on the granite surface of their table. 

renjun shoots him a confused look from where he sits, across from jaemin. "then why'd you order it, silly?"

jaemin hesitates, sheepishly rubbing the nape of his neck with his previously idle palm.

"i wanted to reenact the scene from the lady and the tramp."

 

renjun loses a rock-paper-scissors battle against jaemin and reluctantly uses his fork to bring an end of a spaghetti noodle to his lips. eagerly, jaemin does the same with the other end. 

the latter wiggles his eyebrows playfully before taking more of the noodle into his mouth as renjun stays still. he gets closer, closer, closer, until he's an inch away from renjun's face.

jaemin's eyes are half-closed while renjun's are blown open. jaemin is looking at him like he's sees everything he ever wants to in him — like renjun is the only person he'll ever search for in all the alternate universes there are out there — like renjun is the start and end to his story. 

renjun's the one that closes the distance between them, fireworks exploding in the pits of his stomach as he molds his plush doublets against jaemin's plump pair.

 

jaemin walks him home and invites him to watch the basketball game tomorrow. it's a home game, meaning they'll be versing the enemy team in the gym at their highschool. renjun nods in response.

"cool! jeno'll be there too so you can support both of us!"

renjun's breath catches in his throat when he hears jeno's name, suddenly reminded of why he was looking forward to this date in the first place. it scares him, at first, how jeno hadn't crossed his mind until now, but maybe this is for the better. maybe jeno wasn't the one for him.

jaemin bids him goodnight, but doesn't leave without pressing a kiss to renjun's forehead first. the heat that crawls up renjun's neck is one he's well associated with, having felt it every time jeno's eyes met his own.

he heads upstairs and sheds himself of his coat, lying down on his mattress and staring at the stick-on glowing stars on his ceiling. he extends his right arm, as if reaching for the stars up above, when his eyes land on the initials marking his forearm.

the second 'J' is colored in a faint shade of red.

 

 

 

confusion keeps jaemin up until 2am when he's got a basketball game later that day. he can't help it, he's got so many questions that remain unanswered. 

the date with renjun had been spectacular, like nothing he'd ever experienced before and yet like everything he'd experienced all at once. 

his thumb caresses the flesh of his right forearm, brushing over the initials that blemished his otherwise clear, pale skin. the 'R' was now colored in a shade of cherry but the 'J' beside it remained vacant, the outline taunting him. 

wasn't the whole thing supposed to fill in once he'd kissed his soulmate? so why was this different? 

it's when his mother comes to check on him that he shuts his eyelids, pretending to be asleep, and actually  _does_ knock out in the midst of acting.

 

the school day passes by a lot slower than usual for some reason.

he hasn't told jeno the big news yet since he was pretty occupied in his own thoughts last night and had no time this morning. he'll tell him later.

 

later comes by when they're in the locker room, packing away the outfits they'd worn during the day. jeno's using the locker next to his, as usual, and jaemin waits for him to finish before breaking the silence. "jeno."

his bestfriend looks at him with his eyebrows raised, hands casually resting on his hips as they always do. "what's up?"

jaemin puts his arm in front of jeno for him to see the letters on his arm. "i kissed renjun yesterday. or well —  he kissed me."

jeno doesn't say anything at first, as if he's as dumbfounded as jaemin is, but then goes, "i'm happy for you, jae!"

jaemin knows jeno too well to believe that, but doesn't pry. he's probably envious since the initials on his arm have yet to be colored in.

"why's only the 'R' colored in'?" 

"why're you asking me? you're the one who taught  _me_ about soulmates, remember?"

 

jaemin finds renjun sitting at the end of the bleachers closest to the exit, two rows up. he walks up for a high-five, which renjun gladly gives him, and is pleased by the way renjun's cheeks flush when he says, "i'll win this for you."

when he jogs back to jeno to resume stretching, jeno has an unreadable expression on his face and is still staring at where jaemin had just returned from.

"dude! you won't believe how many scouts are there." jaemin takes a seat, locking his knees as he extends his lower duos outwards, arms following until they hover over his legs. "we've gotta show them our all!"

his chest tightens when he sees jeno smile sadly and shake his head, as if he's ridding himself of a thought. 

"aren't you two lucky, huh?"

so that's where his mind is.

"jeno," he begins, his eyes following jeno's to the bleachers where renjun sits, conversing with a orange-haired male he thinks goes by the name 'donghyuck'

"do you like renjun?"

the coach blows the whistle.

 

it's intense. he hadn't expected j.y.park highschool's basketball team to be so good. the last time he'd checked, they were ranked 8th in the district out of 15. star museum highschool has been, for the past three years, in the top 5. they were first last year and jaemin will  _not_ be losing that spot. not while he's still on the team. not while he's captain.

the ball bounces rhythmically in between his palm and the polished wooden floor as he dribbles it across the court, the clock counting down the last 10 seconds. 

9, 8, 7,

he bends his knees a tad.

6, 5, 4, 

he aims the shot.

3, 

 _"jaemin, you can do it!"_ renjun.

2,

the ball is in the air.

1,

"star museum's captain, jaemin, shoots a three-pointer! the game is over! star museum takes the win!"

he both hears and doesn't hear the screams filling the gymnasium as the joy from the victory takes over the supporters of their team. his members all rush up to congratulate him and he dazedly returns each handshake, hug, and high-five.

"you did it! the scouts definitely saw tha— "

jaemin crashes his lips against jeno's and suddenly the hall is silent. he knows people could care less — that people are still running around and screaming with happiness —  but he's too busy losing himself in everything and anything that has to do with jeno and— 

he pulls away in shock. jeno's eyes are wide open, like his own, and jaemin can't breathe.

he turns on his heel and flees the scene.

 

 

jeno watches jaemin's physique disappear, wanting to chase after him but being glued to the spot. his heart hammers against his chest, threatening to break through and run after his bestfriend if he can't will his body to.

when he finally gets his legs moving, members from his team come up to share their happiness with him and he lets himself get distracted, not wanting to be rude. the smile he gives them doesn't reach his eyes because what he needs to do right now is find jaemin.

find jaemin, hold jaemin, tell jaemin everything's alright,  _kiss_ jaemin. 

after the crowd finally disperses, either heading to the locker room or leaving the building, jeno runs out into the hallway. he's not sure where jaemin has gone but he searches anyways.

he goes through the basements sharp hallways and then takes the outermost staircase up to the first floor, repeating the same actions. when he reaches the second floor, he hears a groan bounce off the walls of the otherwise silent hallway and halts. 

the groan is followed by a sob and jeno takes quiet steps to where the sound seems to be coming from, careful not to scare the person away.

when he reaches the little corner at the end of the art wing, he sees renjun squeezed in between the end of the row of lockers and the wall. the oversized gray hoodie he has on aids renjun in hiding his face, the big sleeves covering it with ease, and his knees are pressed to his chest a bit defensively.

"renjun?" it's like déjà vu. this night oddly similar to the one back in january. 

the called for boy's head jerks upwards, surprised, and jeno feels the air get punched out of his lungs as the light of the hallway reflects off of the wet streaks visible on renjun's cheeks.

"do you mind if i take a seat?" renjun shakes his head,  _'no'_ , and jeno sits down in front of him.

tears still dot the edges of renjun's eyes, growing in size, but the chinese student bats his eyelashes rapidly, trying to suppress them. jeno is reminded of how breathtakingly long renjun's lashes are and as the latter looks at him through them, pout settled on his nether doublet, jeno doesn't know why he has to look away to calm the sudden heat rushing up his neck. 

they sit in silence, jeno finding interest in the graffiti on the wall and renjun occupying himself by tracing imaginary circles on the top of his knee.

"i was gonna comfort you. why does it feel like you're the one comforting me," jeno admits lamely, awkward chuckle following after. 

he sneaks in a glance at renjun's face, doing a double take when he sees a ghost of a smile appear on the lankier boy's rosy dyads. "i think we're both comforting each other, in a sense,  actually."

jeno flutters his eyes shut and playfully scoffs at that, trying to lighten the mood, "oh yeah, okay, sure. all i've done is sit down in front of you, but if you've got a thing for people invading your personal space, guess i'm your dream guy."

renjun laughs at that and jeno does too, mentally patting himself on the back before cracking his eyes open.

he can almost feel his heart jump to his throat.

the way renjun tilts his head back as he laughs, tears still decorating the brims of his eyes, cheeks stained with drying streaks, wipes the smile off of jeno's face and instead leaves his lips parted as he stares.

renjun stops laughing, wiping his unshed tears with his pointer finger, and catches jeno's eyes on him, "what're you looking at me like that for, weirdo?" he chuckles.

jeno doesn't join in on the laughter this time.

instead, he minimizes the distance between their faces.

renjun is pretty, so pretty. his lips are red and inviting — jeno wants to claim them, to see how it feels, to experience the bliss jaemin seemed to have experienced, to know if it feels like kissing jaemin or — maybe— if it feels better.

"jeno, what're you doing?" renjun asks when he's but a few centimeters away from sewing their lips together.

it snaps him out of it. he scrambles backwards, as if renjun were the one who'd advanced on him, and a thousand apologies fall from his lips. "i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry. i don't know what i was thinking. i just — i got caught up in the moment and— "

soft. renjun's palms are soft against his cheeks. 

his lips are even softer, jeno notes as renjun seals their lips together. it's slow and gentle, just like jeno had thought it would be. it feels like his heart is running marathons in his chest, ecstasy coursing through his veins and causing the hairs on his body to stand. it feels just like how it did when jaemin had kissed him. 

renjun breaks away first, hiding his face into the crook of jeno's neck, and jeno simply freezes, putting together what just happened.

for some reason, he wants time to stand still — wants to just sit here, like this, arms around renjun's lithe frame while renjun's wet cheeks press against his shoulder. 

 

he walks renjun home because it's late. it's 6pm when they leave the school and 6:15 when they arrive at renjun's house. renjun tells jeno he'll see him tomorrow and plants a chaste kiss on his cheek before retiring into the building.

jeno heads home feeling like he's in a dream, not caring that the trip is double what it usually is because renjun, he decides, is worth it.

 

 

 

the buds on the cherry blossom trees that decorate the courtyard of their highschool bloom slowly. they're shy, scared, and the sun is there waiting, ever so patiently.

renjun doesn't know if he's more like the bud or the sun. sure, sometimes he's scared of how to deal with things when life tosses a fastball at him, but he's never striked out. nor has he ever caused someone else to strike out. having been the guide to many foreign exchange students from china all throughout his years of school, he's learned to get along with all sorts of people because they depend on him. 

suddenly, though, he's not sure how to deal with anything. jeno and jaemin have rendered him to a complete mess. the J's on his arm are red and grey, reminding him that he has kissed his soulmate.

or well, soul _mates_. 

he's never heard of someone having two soulmates, however, so he's unsure what he's supposed to do. how does he give all of his love to two people? or did the letters mean something else?

 

jaemin doesn't show up to calculus. renjun, thinking about how jaemin had kissed jeno yesterday and fled, worries. 

he'd kissed jeno too. what if jaemin had found out?

 

jeno confirms for him, when they see each other during their lunch period, that jaemin hadn't showed up to school today. "his mom texted me saying he was unwell."

renjun listens, nodding his head and munching on a slice of apple. he doesn't know what to say — doesn't know where to start, at least. 

"i'm worried. he's never absent."

renjun takes a sip from his carton of milk.

"one time he even came when he had the flu. can you believe him? absolutely crazy."

he wipes the milk from the corner of his lips with a napkin.

"i had to basically lug him from class to class. unbelievable. i got sick the next day too!"

"jeno." his voice is soft, barely audible.

"the things i do for him, seriously. but yeah, unless he  _—_ god forbid  _— died_ or someth— "

" _jeno_." his voice is louder now, more firm.

"oh — yeah? what is it?"

"you love him, don't you?"

the silence that follows his question suffocates renjun. he can sees hundreds of emotions fly through jeno's face and is able to only catch a handful of them.

the bell rings, signalling the end of their time together, and jeno still hasn't answered him; but it's okay. renjun knows the answer anyways.

 

as he lays in bed that night, arm extending outward, palm inviting the stars to come visit, like it did on the night he kissed jaemin, renjun realizes what the initials on his arm means. 

perhaps jaemin and jeno aren't  _his_ soulmates.

perhaps they're each other's soulmates and renjun's being told by fate not to interfere — perhaps he doesn't have a soulmate of his own because he doesn't  _deserve_ one. after all, he kissed jaemin _and_ jeno; and he'd been the one to initiate it both times.

renjun decides, lashes blinking away the tears that threaten to weaken him, that from now on, he won't be an obstacle in their relationship anymore. 

 

 

the next day, renjun doesn't sit with jeno.

jeno watches renjun converse with chenle from afar, the brunette's lips tugging into a smile as chenle shares a picture he found online with him.

renjun's smile never reaches his eyes. it's not as bright anymore. his nose doesn't wrinkle cutely and his eyes don't form those beautiful crescent shapes — jeno doesn't know when he's learned these things but he does know that those are the things he misses seeing.

 

 

jaemin musters up the courage to go to school the day after that. his mother won't let him stay home again, anyways, believing that it's time for him to man up and face his consequences. 

he thinks it's funny for someone who doesn't know what he's going through to say something like that. after all, he'd shown his problem to her yesterday and she replied by telling him to stop joking around. her words left a dent in his chest and he 'confessed' to have been joking around. that the second letter on his arm was drawn on. an early aprils' fools prank.

the red and grey letters on his arm now mock him as he hides them underneath long sleeves, despite the high temperatures. 

 

renjun, renjun, renjun.

his main goal is to find renjun because that's the only thing 'RJ' can stand for — yet when jeno greets him, gaze displaying how worried he's been amid jaemin's absence, jaemin feels his throat dry up and his palms begin to perspire.

"i missed you."

 _why_ does this make his stomach turn as if a dozen butterflies have just taken flight?

 

it's 3:05 pm and jaemin's waiting at the classroom on the third floor. 316B, where he first met renjun.

he's not sure what he'll say when he sees the boy. doesn't know if he should say anything at all, actually.

fifteen minutes pass and jaemin sits in front of the door, long legs extended across half the width of the hallway. jeno hadn't accompanied him up the stairs today, explaining that he had to help his statistics teacher organize the room for some service credits. jaemin finds himself dozing off. before he actually does, however, he decides to send renjun a text — nonchalant, as if he hadn't been absent the past two days due to his feelings eating away at the happiness he had just found.

— — — to: injunnie!

_3:22 PM_

>> wya? :))

— — —  message: delivered.

 

jaemin wakes up due to someone gently shaking his leg. he's not a light sleeper so it's a bit of a shocker that he wakes up. the wall is uncomfortable against his back and when he flutters his heavy lids open, renjun's face is but inches away. 

it's wishful thinking but jaemin hopes that one day, he'll be able to see this every time he opens his eyes.

"renjun!" he's unable to really contain his excitement.  _he_ was the one who was absent for two days, yet  _he_ felt deprived as if he'd been forced to stay away. "sorry, i fell into a bit of a nap," he continues, trailing off a bit guiltily.

renjun shakes his head and points at the clock to the side, glancing up at it himself. "it's my fault. i forgot to tell you that i cancelled our tutoring sessions. the student council has been getting busier so i've got to devote myself to that."

renjun sounds a bit... distant. and jaemin hates the way his own hands start trembling because of that. however, it doesn't stop him from pushing himself off the wall, arms encasing renjun in his hold as he lets his forehead rest against renjun's broad shoulder. he's missed this. renjun's petite frame, vanilla scented shampoo, red and black flannel a size too big.

he almost falls asleep again from the comfortable feeling of it all when he registers two palms on his chest, applying the shyest amounts of pressure. "my mom's waiting for me."

jaemin lets go and renjun gives him a polite smile, turns around, and heads down the corridor where the narrowest staircase was located. 

 

it's raining. 

jaemin doesn't bothering looking into his bookbag because he knows he's forgotten to pack an umbrella. jeno probably has one, but he'd also forgotten to tell the boy he wasn't staying for practice today.

whilst contemplating whether to face the heavy rain — which, oddly enough, seemed to be calling out to him — or to head back inside and wait for jeno to come rescue him, as the boy has done more times than either of them could recall, he hears a shout of his name. 

when he turns his head, he's greated by the tousled blonde locks of the junior on the basketball team with him. "looks like i'm your prince charming for today, mr. captain!"

 

and so chenle accompanies him home, insisting it was no big deal since he heads down that way to go to his own house. 

they walk slowly, jaemin a bit moody and chenle completely misses this, reciting events that occurred during the day with toxic exaggeration. 

the older boy's eyes wander like they always do when he's lost interest in everything else. they wander, wander, wander, and then they land on the 'J' written on chenle's arm.

out of everyone he's ever met, chenle's always been the most interested in the whole idea of soulmates. having a wild imagination came hand in hand with having an interest in about everything.

"chenle, can i ask you something a bit personal?"

he gets a hum of agreement in response.

"what does this mean?" jaemin tugs the sleeve of his navy blue blazer upwards, exposing the colored letters on his arm. 

he doesn't know when they stop walking, but they do and chenle looks at him with eyes that almost shine underneath the street light.

"you're one of  _those_ people!"

he gestures for chenle to continue when the shorter boy stops speaking.

"you've got two soulmates!"

 

chenle's words repeat in his head over and over again while he struggles to recall the letters on jeno's arm. then he remembers the picture he took of the goofy signature he wrote on jeno's cast when the latter had fallen off his bike and fractured a bone in his arm. the bandage ends of right where the letters start.

_'J R'._

it clicks.

 

the next day, jaemin arrives to school 10 minutes earlier than usual — telling jeno he had to run some errands before classes and that he wasn't going to walk with him today.

he spends the extra minutes he has convincing his calculus teacher to talk renjun into giving him one last tutoring session, using the test on friday to his advantage. he can hear the desperation in his own voice, his fingers shaking as he points at all the things on the topic list that he doesn't 'understand'. 

ms. berkley agrees.

 

the day goes by slowly —  slower than usual —  and jaemin finds himself gaining a new habit of shaking his knee when he's impatient. when the last period's bell rings, he almost flies out of his seat and races towards his locker, beating jeno by more than a few minutes. "ms. berkley says i need one last tutoring session," he lies and doesn't wait for jeno to offer to walk him up the stairs, instead wrapping his extremities around jeno's wrist, tugging him up the pathway that's embedded into his mind from having taken it so many times.

they stand, side by side, at the door of 316B.

jaemin notices, after a few minutes of waiting, that his fingers are interlaced with jeno's and he's not sure when that happened, but he's not complaining. 

his nerves begin to show after five minutes have passed and he swallows thickly, rolling his tongue past his lips multiple times due to his nerves. jeno gives his hand a reassuring squeeze and jaemin finds it a little easier to breathe.

 

renjun shows up ten minutes later, apology on the tip of his tongue, but he's not even able to get the words out before jaemin tugs him forward with a iron-like grip on the hem of his shirt. 

"jaemin, are you okay?"

he doesn't reply to renjun's question, only worrying the other two students in the hallway further. his hands are trembling as he works the tight sleeve around renjun's right arm upwards, bunching it by the elbow and then examining the letters that sealed the chinese male's fate.

there's a quiet sigh. 

"i think i should go," renjun announces, hastily pulling his sleeve back down. 

jaemin's palms cup renjun's cheeks. he's  _not_ letting him go today. pulling renjun in with the hold he has on the sides of his face, he rests his forehead against the boy's, the expression on his visage so relaxed that renjun finds himself calming down as well. 

jeno makes a move to leave instead, a feeling of sickness washing over him, but jaemin's left hand leaves renjun's face to encircle around jeno's wrist once more. 

"this is perfect."

jeno and renjun, both as confused as the other, glance at one another with curiosity and concern. what was perfect? was jaemin possibly not feeling well again?

then jaemin laughs. it's so soft the two of them would've missed it if they weren't both in the grasps of the boy. 

"i can't believe the three of us are paired up together, what are the odds."

jaemin pulls away, finally, proudly displaying the initials on his arm once more. "they stand for two names, not one. renjun  _and_ jeno. i've —  _we've_  — got two soulmates."

the next person to sigh is jeno, relief hitting him so hard his knees almost give away. 

and then a sniffle catches his attention — his and jaemin's attention.

they move almost simultaneously, one arm wrapping around the teary-eyed male trembling in between them. both of them press their puckered doublets against the small boy's cheeks and continue to leave kisses like such all over the side of his face they're currently given access to.

 

renjun, no longer having to shy away, blooms under the rays of affection jaemin and jeno shower him in. 

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first time doing a one shot like this,,,  
> it diDN'T COME OUT AS GOOD AS I THOUGHT IT WOULD TBH SKDJKS.  
> i planned it out and everything but upon rereading it i cringed......  
> but i spent hours doing it so i was like to HECK with it and just posted it!!  
> i,,, i hope it's okay q u q ||  
> please let me know what you guys think!!
> 
> oh oh oh and as i said in the tags,, jisung isn't here because his story has to do with chenle!! and i miiiiiight do a chensung sequel. tell me if you guys think that would be rad or bad!!  
> > /// < ;; thanks for reading!
> 
> i’m still pretty new ; v ;


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